TA-THREATS: Officials Search for Missing Cyanide

Officials in North Dakota are still searching for a missing 15 gallon drum of sodium cyanide. Sodium cyanide turns into a deadly gas when it comes into contact with water. The reaction creates lethal hydrogen cyanide gas, which can kill in less than five minutes. What is most troubling about this incident is how easy it was for the owner to obtain a permit to buy the chemical when they had no proof of it's intended use. Even though it is illegal to use the chemical for an unauthorized use, it is not illegal to posses it.


The state Agriculture Department says that this is one of those situations that sort of "fell through the cracks." Evidently since it isn't supposed to be used for agriculture purposes, no one is in charge of monitoring its use. Couldn't we say the same thing for nuclear weapons? Common sense would say that if the substance could be easily used for terrorist purposes, it should be watched closely. In this case, the chemical is so easy to turn into a lethal poison, that "Just Add Water" isn't just a clich�.


[edit on 12-10-2004 by dbates]

That's pretty scary. I hope there is an innocent explanation.

Jemison

Let's hear it for our Department of Homeland Security! Another FINE job from Tom Ridge and the Color-Coded Blackboard...
THIS is what makes me nervous: This incident occurred three to five days ago - that chemical could be anywhere in the Western United States at this time... or anywhere in the US, for that matter. My question: Do you think they've got Federal agents crawling over (at least) the heavily inhabited sectors of the Dakotas looking for this stuff?
Of course not. It's an election year. Don't wanna scare the electorate.
So when this stuff does trun up in the wrong hands, THEN there'll be a terror alert. And the country will vote GW in for four more years, because Kerry couldn't protect us from the evil.
Pardon my slightly conspiratorial spin, but hey... it COULD happen.
For the people out in the Dakotas, I hope they find this stuff. I also hop ethey improve the regulations involving the sale & movement of potentially hazardous materials of this type.. I do realize you can't regulate the sale of every damn thing out there that can quickly be converted into a do-it-yourself WMD, but some things should be fairly easy.
Like having a verifiable address and name on a document as to who and where stuff like this is going... it would be good to know who was driving the truck hauling it, as well as the driver's route... you know, stuff most HAZMAT drivers HAVE to have a log for...
Maybe that's just down here in Florida...
God, I hope they find that stuff...

This is quite a scary lil snippet to hear from our friends across the pond. sodium cyanide is muuy deadly, tho I wouldnt worry so much about foreign terrorists using is. I dont think it would do enogh real damage for their liking, but it is a worry that this could be baught or appropriated for future use and its not illegal to be in possession of such a deadly chemical.

Good post, thank you for making us aware of these situations. If it weren't for sites like this and people reporting news from different sources worldwide, most of these things would remain out of public site.